Ethnography Project

1. A Closer Look At Coffee Houses

2. My Proposal
 Initially I wanted to observe baristas at various coffee
houses around Columbia to see what their jobs entailed.
My roommate at the time told me that her job is harder
than it seems and I wanted to see if that statement was
true. While at Drip, I realized I was paying more attention
to the customers than the employees. I noticed the
decorations, the music, the food/beverage options, and
the overall atmosphere. I decided to go around coffee
shops around Columbia and note the similarities and
differences, and if these details influenced the “type” of
people that went to the specific coffee house.

3. Research Question

4. What I was trying to determine
 I was trying to see the relationship between the
atmosphere of the coffee shop and the type of people
who went there, and why they chose to go to that
specific coffee house. I also wanted to note the
difference between independent coffee houses and
corporate owned coffee houses.

5. Sub-Culture

6. The Customers
 I went to Drip, Cool Beans, Café Strudel, and Starbucks. I
found that a vast array of people go to these coffee
shops. The people I interviewed at Starbucks worked
“white-collar” jobs, the people at Drip ranged from a
high school student to the Defense Attorney of S.C, the
customers at Cool Beans were mostly students (from
what I assume because of the location), and the
customers and Café Strudel what one would deem the
“artsy” type ; the person I interviewed wanted to major in
music and liked going there because the people there
were “cool” because they liked the same music.

7. Methods

8.  I interviewed customers at the coffee houses. I chose
questions that were simple and easy to answer. I asked
such questions as : why do you come here, what are your
interests, what is your job (if you have one), and what do
you like about coffee shops in general. These questions
helped me see the differences in each interviewee.

9. Findings

10. Wooo!
 Overall the type of people that go to the different coffee
houses I went to go there for a certain reason. Whether it
be the easy accessibility, the atmosphere, the product
itself, what type of activities that can be done there,
every person I talked to had their reasons for going to
their chosen coffee shop. I tried to decide whether it was
how the coffee shop was set up that brought people to it
or because the type of people that frequented there
influenced how the store looked. Ultimately I believe the
former. Mainly the explanations I was given were purely
aesthetic.

11. More!
 The people liked going to the coffee shops because of
the music, the furniture, and the food and drink. For the
differences between a corporate owned coffee shop
and an independent shop were the choice of food/
drink and the reasons people chose to go there. For
Starbucks—the easy accessibility. For independent
coffee houses—the food choices (vegan) and the simple
fact that they were not corporate owned.